Database Reference
In-Depth Information
2. The parties are more committed and responsive:
a. The parties are willing to pay premium for the mutual commitment.
b. The parties are mutually persuasive rather than coercive.
c. The parties resolve delivered solution errors or other differences amicably.
3. The parties are predictable to each other.
4. It not only reduces the time to diagnose the needs of the customer but also reduces diagnosis
errors.
5. The parties develop the solutions jointly.
6. The parties integrate schedules mutually.
Relationships based purely on contracts may not be long lasting because no contract can be com-
prehensive enough to cover all possible future eventualities. The purpose of a contract is pri-
marily to eliminate uncertainties regarding delivered solution commitments in terms of scope,
functionality, schedule, costs, etc. Consequently, especially in these times of market change and
turbulence, contracts tend to restrict responsiveness of the relationships and, hence, eventually the
responsiveness of the respective organizations.
Customer relationships are important because it establishes customer expectations. When
expectations are realistically high, customers call to seek solutions for their needs. Once the cus-
tomer does call, the provider needs to respond and reassure the customer. Customers empower
people and organizations they trust. Each time their needs are met, the customer's trust is
increased. Even if the delivered solution is below expectations, trust levels get restored if the pro-
vider accepts responsibility for the problems and makes a good recovery. Few managers realize
that more than 80% of customers return if their complaints are resolved quickly.
1.2.5.2 Customer Interaction Channels
To strengthen customer relationships, companies draw on and integrate information from a wide
range of resources to develop insights into customer wants, needs, and values. These sources may
include direct contacts, customer information systems, sales reports, call center data, market sur-
veys, focus groups, billing data, and demographic studies. This may also include prior records and
analysis of interactions of the customer with the enterprise. The customer may interact with differ-
ent units of the business through different channels, but the enterprise must have a coordinated,
consistent, and complete picture of the customer available throughout the enterprise. All these
impart a greater degree of stability, continuity, and predictability to the customer base, which eases
the planning and operations all along the supply chain.
Customers are demanding more access and interaction points with their suppliers. In addi-
tion to getting more information from the companies with which they do business, customers
are demanding more ways of interacting with those companies—including phone, fax, e-mail,
Web, mail, and on-site. Most companies practicing CRM set up call centers, which are able to
provide customized services to individual customers. This further enhances the enterprise's orga-
nizational memory about the customers' interactions with the company. While these interactions
are momentary and could be across many interaction channels, the organizational memory about
these interactions (and, therefore, the customer) can be made persistent by incorporating them
within the growing customer knowledge base.
Accessibility creates responsiveness. In terms of sales, responsiveness depends upon how easy
it is for the prospect or the customer to reach the company through multiple modes of commu-
nication and how fast the enterprise can respond. On the other hand, responsiveness in service
